The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-02-17

AS IF 1T WERE ALIVE.
"Yes, we keep eyestones," said
an uptown druggist, "but we don't
have call for one once in five
years. Yet there must be quite a
demand for them, for wholesale
dealers purchase all that are brought
them by sailors, who make bust
ness of collecting them on their
voyages. Did you ever see an eye
stone?'
"No," said the reporter, 'but
they are found in the stomachs of
crayfsh, l believe"
"Then your belief is about as far
wrong as it could be-" said the
druggist, as he took small bottle
from the drawer. 1t was half-full
of what seemed to be very small,
round, flat pieces of polished bone.
Emptying few of the pieces on the
counter, he picked up one and hand
ed it to the reporter to examine.
There was nothing notable about the
little bone except that one side was
composed of numerous concentric
grooves.
"That is an eyestonc," said the
druggist, pouring some liquid out of
a bottle on to a smooth place and
dluting it with water. 'And this
is weak solution of lime juice"
The druggist took one Of the eye
stones and put it into the solution.
Presently the stone began to move
as if it we're alive. 1t made its way
slowly about in different directions
in the liquid in mysterious
manner.
''That strange movement of the
eyestone when placed in a weak
solution Of lime juice or vinegar
has given rise among ignorant and
superstitious people to the notion
that it has life and that it loves
vinegar, and loves to swim in it
above all things. But there is no
more life in an eyestone than there
is in paving-stone. 1t is com
posed Of calcareous material, and
when placed in the solution named
is made to move about by carbonic-
acid gas, which is evolved by the
contact with the liquid acid. These
little stones and other genuine eye
stones once were the front doors to
the shells of little molluscous ami
NAL that lives along the Venezuelan
and other South American coasts.
The shell is univalve. This cal
careous formation is on the tip end
of the little animal, and when he
draws himself into his shell to escape
danger or 60 TO sleep, the end, Of
course, is the last part of him that
is drawn into the cavity or mouth Of
the shell, where it fits so closely and
is so hard that it affords perfect pro-
lection to the animals against ene-
mics from without. The native in
habitants collect the eyestones in
large quantities and regard them
with great awe. Sailors engaged on
the fruit-trading vessels that visit
these regions obtain the stones and
fetch them to New York for sale to
the wholesale druggists.
'There are two little bones found
in the head of the crayfsh, just back
of and beneath the eyes, which re-
semble the eyestone, except that
they are smooth all over. These
are called eyestones and are used as
such in Ohio and other Western
States, but they have none OF the
virtues of the real eyestone. The
proper name for the stone found in
the crayfish is crabstones. In Po-
land and parts of Russia quite a
trade is done in collecting crab
stones. The crayfsh are buried in
deep pits and left there until they
rot. The refuse is then washed and
the stones are picked out. They are
used in many parts of Europe as a
corrective of the stomach.
There Is nothing better to remove
foreign substances from the eye than
one Of these South American eye
stones. Before using them many
people think it necessary to put
them in vinegar to give them life,
but it is not necessary. The stone
is inserted at one corner of the eye,
with the grooved side next to the
lid. The pressure of the eyeball
forces it to move about in the eye
and the grooves collect the foreign
matter and retain it. After making
a thorough circuit Of the eye the
stone will come out at the corner of
the nose. No inconvenience is
caused by it's presence in the eye."